Do you consider yourself the hero or the villain in your story?
honestly? all of that seems like way too much pressure to me. i don't see myself as a villian, for sure, but being a hero is way too much pressure. not every person can be superman so i'd like to settle for maybe being the timon and pumbaa of my life story. you know show up, eat some grub, make a few jokes.

What quirks or habits do you have that most people don't see?
i have to eat all of one kind of food before i can move on to another which i've heard is pretty weird but i don't even notice when i do it anymore. so if i have like chicken, rice, and like some sort of vegetable on my plate i will eat all the meat then the rice then the veggies. normally i start with what i want to eat most to what i want to eat least because if i'm full by the time i get to it then i don't care so much. also, i don't wear shoes unless 100% absolutely necessary but i guess that's from growing up as a beach bum.

What is your weirdest dealbreaker?
i really can't stand people that can't make decisions. i mean, the kind of people who will ask the entire table their opinion before ordering dinner. i'm not saying it's terrible to ask for other opinions or anything like that but if the answer is always "oh i don't care" or "whatever you feel like" then it just bugs me to no end. oh and also i hate when people sing the wrong song lyrics on purpose. just, why?

this gets its own line because there's a story. so, i smoke and yes i know it's bad for me and i should quit. i don't care if i date a smoker or non smoker as long as they really aren't preachy about it. if i'm dating a non smoker i will make sure not to smoke in front of them and keep cologne handy because it's the polite thing to do. one time i was dating a girl though who was a non smoker and decided the best way to get me to quit was to print out a picture of smokers lungs and put it on the kitchen table while i was trying to eat. i got her point but it crossed all sorts of lines and we broke up that day. so uh, dealbreaker is someone who prints out lung pics?

What is your favorite thing about what you do? Least favorite?
favorite is easy, i like making people happy. that's the most fun thing in the world to me is to make other people laugh, and sometimes the weird laughing while crying thing, just by taking five minutes out of my life to say what's up and take a picture. least favorite is paparazzi. i don't really think i need to explain that.

How has your career changed since it started?
when i started i was mostly the cute little kid in dramas, knowing the weight of the human head or seeing ghosts, but school of rock is where i fell in love with comedy. then i became troy bolton and it felt like disney would forever be next to my name and i was wholesome mr. american high school student which was fun until i was trying to get roles that weren't that. i finally think i'm starting to move past the disney image now that people have seen a lot of my ass. i think i have a nice ass so i don't mind it.

How does your family take to your public persona?
i don't really have a public persona because what you see is what you get with me. my dad, though, would probably be just as happy if i had some regular job because he was never really into me being an actor when i was little until i promised him it is what i wanted to do with my life. my mom figured if she couldn't be a star that i would be and she just lucked out that i liked it. well, she is on one of those real housewife shows now but i don't watch them and i told them i wouldn't ever go on it. i hear the ratings are good so it looks like it worked out for her too.

Which of your roles was the most challenging to perform? Why?
first one that comes to mind is school of rock because i lied when i sent in my audition and told them i could drum and i spent months practicing drumming so i could at least be passable when we started rehearsals. peter pan was difficult because of all the wire working that was involved in 'flying'. i had to learn how to sing and dance for high school musical but grinding and all the stripper moves in magic mike were pretty crazy. the hardest part there was just for me to get comfortable thrusting my balls in some poor extras face and acting like that was a normal tuesday.

What advice would you give to someone looking to get into your field?
do it for yourself. do it because you can't imagine doing anything else. have fun. have a life outside of this craziness because you're going to hear no a lot and you're going to be told you're too something that's just not what they are looking for and all the negativity can bring you down. never, ever, google yourself.